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Innerviews - Music Without Borders [Paperback]

Anil Prasad (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

Price: $23.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

October 19, 2010
Twenty-four of the world's most renowned musicians share incredibly candid, in-depth thoughts on the joy and pain of the creative process, their careers and aspirations, conflicts and collaborations, and the realities of today's music business in Innerviews: Music Without Borders, the first book by acclaimed music journalist Anil Prasad.

Artists featured in the book include some of the greatest names in rock, jazz, world music, hip-hop, and electronica: Jon Anderson, Bjork, Bill Bruford, Martin Carthy, Stanley Clarke, Chuck D, Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck, Michael Hedges, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Leo Kottke, Bill Laswell, John McLaughlin, Noa, David Sylvian, Tangerine Dream, David Torn, Ralph Towner, McCoy Tyner, Eberhard Weber, Chris Whitley, Victor Wooten, and Joe Zawinul. Wooten contributes a foreword to the book. Some of the evocative topics explored include:
  • Bjork on the chaos of her creative process
  • Stanley Clarke on saying no to Miles Davis
  • Chuck D on whats wrong with hip-hop today
  • Ani DiFranco on propelling democracy through music
  • Bela Fleck on journeying to Africa to discover the roots of the banjo
  • Bill Laswell on the drama of producing difficult artists
  • John McLaughlin on turning the tables on the jazz police
  • McCoy Tyner on the deification of John Coltrane
  • Tangerine Dream on electronica transcending technology
  • Joe Zawinul on inventing the original hip-hop beat
Prasad established Innerviews, the Internet's first and longest-running music magazine, in 1994. He is celebrated for his special ability to get his subjects to confide and reflect in ways they rarely do with other interviewers.

"Anil Prasad is like a great musician," says Victor Wooten. "The way he expresses himself through his own art - his writing - causes readers to feel inspired, as if we've learned about ourselves, as well as the subject of the interview."

"Prasad does splendid interviews with an amazing mix of musicians in Innerviews: Music Without Borders," says Vijay Iyer. "He takes the artists work seriously and meets it on its own terms, which is a sign of true generosity on his part."


Editorial Reviews

Review

"Prasad's concise and to-the-point direction leads diverse artists to expound on subjects for which they are truly passionate. Seek out Innerviews and support writing that allows artists' voices to be accurately heard."
--No Depression

"Prasad gets artists to share their deepest thoughts about a wide range of topics, from spiritual inspiration and motives to compositional methods. A fascinating look at the thinking of contemporary artists."
--Christian Science Monitor

"The most probing, revelatory music journalism I've read in quite some time is Prasad's Innerviews. The book sets the bar for getting musicians to speak candidly and thoughtfully about their work and relation to the world."
--Ottawa Citizen

"Prasad has a reputation for incisive, substantive journalism. His comprehensive approach yields fascinating insights even artists themselves sometimes find surprising. Essential reading for thinking fans."
--Guitar Player Magazine

"The conversations are unusually intimate and candid, with the artists sharing thoughts on their creative processes, careers and aspirations, today's music business and other topics. Fascinating stuff."
--Jazziz

About the Author

Anil Prasad is the editor and publisher of Innerviews, the Web's longest-running music magazine, located at innerviews.org. Established in 1994, Innerviews offers in-depth, uncompromising interviews that enable artists to speak at length about topics that matter to them. The magazine invites readers to experience music without borders, encompassing a wide variety of genres including rock, jazz, fusion, hip-hop, world music, pop, and folk. Prasad is also a contributor to Guitar Player and Bass Player magazines.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 315 pages
  • Publisher: Abstract Logix (October 19, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0578015188
  • ISBN-13: 978-0578015187
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anil Prasad is the editor and publisher of Innerviews, the Web's longest-running music magazine, located at innerviews.org. Established in 1994, Innerviews offers in-depth, uncompromising interviews that enable artists to speak at length about topics that matter to them.

The magazine invites readers to experience music without borders, encompassing a wide variety of genres including rock, jazz, fusion, hip-hop, world music, pop, and folk. Prasad is also a contributor to Guitar Player and Bass Player magazines.

Prasad is the author of the book Innerviews: Music Without Borders, released through Abstract Logix. The book features exclusive interviews with 24 artists including Jon Anderson, Bjork, Martin Carthy, Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck, Jonas Hellborg, Bill Laswell, Noa, Public Enemy, David Sylvian, Tangerine Dream, David Torn, McCoy Tyner, and Joe Zawinul.

 

Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best!, October 13, 2011
This review is from: Innerviews - Music Without Borders (Paperback)
The best book I've ever read in terms of artist interviews. IMHO, nothing even comes close. It's like the author is sharing a beer with each artist and the artist's entire guard is down. No talking points here. Each interview feels like an intimate conversation that the public is not intended to hear. With today's soundbites & propaganda machines at full throttle, this is such a breath of fresh, honest, introspective air. A+. I want more.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating musicians, excellent interviews, December 23, 2010
By 
John Neumann (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Innerviews - Music Without Borders (Paperback)
I'm about 2/3 of the way through this right now. I read a little every night at bed time. I'm a prog fan (the more well-known groups like Yes, Crimson, Genesis etc.) going way back, and have some interest in world music and more improvisational music like jazz, though I'm not as knowledgeable about it. I will definitely go through this again chapter by chapter, and look for some of the recordings I read about.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Respectable Yet Recycled Reading..., September 24, 2011
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Innerviews - Music Without Borders (Paperback)
[INNERVIEWS - Music Without Borders - Extraordinary Conversations with Extraordinary Musicians - By Anil Prasad - (2010)] Editor and publisher of Innerviews, the longest-running online music magazine, Anil Prasad has compiled some of his in-depth interviews with various musicians from a variety of musical genres into a book that makes for somewhat engaging reading. Surprisingly, I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I'd be, considering the hoopla surrounding the product details listed on Amazon, along with several reviews. The claims that he asks original, uncompromising, intimate questions that deviate from the usual derivative queries that dominate most publications ("Who are your influences?", "What kind of strings and amps are you currently using?", etc.) are true to a point but, after reading the book from cover to cover, his tendency to utilize practically the same set of questions over and over again, just tailored to each individual, becomes plainly evident, and usually culminate in an inquiry about the artists spiritual beliefs. This tendency becomes both predictable and annoying after the first ten to twelve interviews, particularly the spiritual inquiry - if it's one thing I don't want to hear, it's the religious beliefs an artist subscribes to; after all, these are musicians, not deities, and the separation of church and state holds true in music as well. I prefer my interviews with artists to strip the veneer off the facade and expose the individual underneath the mask, not give additional self-importance to the musician's promoted image. You may feel differently; after all, this is just another opinion. But I have been consuming these interviews for over 40 years and, hopefully, have cultured some refinement by now. And I expect the same from the interviewer as well.

What struck me as unexpected were some of my favorite interviews within these pages - some by artists whose musical catalog I'd shy away from; not because they make foul or rancid music, just music I personally don't care for, for whatever reasons (again, this is an opinion). My absolute favorite was Chuck D from Public Enemy, who provided the most historically interesting comments regarding rap and black musical culture - this guy really has something to say, and never sugar coats his beliefs one iota. For me, his was the most interesting elucidation within. Bravo. Also of peculiar interest were the commentaries by Ani DeFranco, Leo Kottke (and I don't own one of their cd's, but saw Kottke open for King Crimson in 1973 when I was a kid), Bjork, Michael Hedges and Eberhard Weber. Head-turning stuff for sure.

Artists whose interviews I had high expectations for didn't fail to delight - Bill Laswell, Zakir Hussain, David Sylvian, Jonas Hellborg, David Torn, McCoy Tyner, John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinul provided monster reading. Bill Bruford, who's known for being extremely hostile towards interviewers yet manages to steer all interviews into a pompous 'more of the same' style response, again states little of importance (read his biography for further proof), and Jon Anderson's answers are rudimentary for a guy who's fronted one of prog rock's most challenging bands - he's never as deep as he thinks he is, IMO. By his own declaration, he's a by-product of the hippie era (not that I have anything against hippies, unless you're still living like one 40 years later) and some of his ideologies seem naive. Nothing really new here.

Some of these interviews are a bit dated, going back to the late 90's while tacking on more recent verbiage to flesh things out, and a few are simply boring, though this is no fault of Prasad, some musicians (and I'm being kind) simply don't have much to say. As a whole, I found the book interesting but not thoroughly engaging - maybe I'm jaded or cynical or both, but was anticipating a bit more. I would still recommend it for the most part, just don't expect to get your socks knocked off. But it does benefit from a well-rounded collection of artists from diverse genres, each with a different grasp on what they do and how they go about doing it. If you enjoy these types of books, search out 'Rockers, Jazzbos and Visionaries' by Bill Milkowski for another informative, illuminating study of great artists. 3 ½ stars.
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